Flu season is fast approaching, and we wanted to share our functional approach to staying healthy into this fall and winter. As practitioners who look at the whole picture of a person’s health, we believe that diet, lifestyle and supplement protocols can be utilized to create the first line of defense against the flu or even an upper respiratory infection. When someone is sick, there is some imbalance going on in their body causing their immune system to not function optimally. And when your immune system is strong and healthy, there is less of a chance that a virus will infect you. Because of this, we have outlined our immune boosting protocols to help you prevent colds and the flu this season!
Stay Healthy Diet & Lifestyle Tips:
1. Drink up! Colder and dry air can lead to dehydration, so make sure you are staying hydrated with homemade broths, soups, teas (organic herbal is best!) and of course water!
2. Avoid sugar. Sugar suppress your immune system, drives inflammation, and makes you more susceptible to getting sick. Avoid or minimize your sugar intake this season to stay healthy.
3. Increase protein. Keeping your protein intake up helps your immune and detoxification systems function optimally.
4. Sleep! Eight hours or more of quality sleep is a great way to keep your body healthy and ready to fight off viruses.
5. Sweat it out. Exercising (30-45 minutes daily) helps boost the immune system. But don’t overdo it because that can suppress immune function. If you come down with a something, an infrared sauna is a great way to naturally detox but not stress your immune system.
Because functional medicine is not one-size-fits-all, we approach this flu season by honoring each patient’s individual needs. We recognize that some of our patients choose to have the flu shot in addition to above recommendations. Please know that we DON’T feel that any vaccination is a replacement for optimizing all of the above to stay well this season.
Our stance on any type of vaccination is always patient education first, and we encourage all of our patients to weigh the evidence on each side and make their own decision based on what is best for them/their family. Please discuss any concerns or questions with your provider.
